


Paul loved a lot of things about Emma

by Duckinahurry



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals
Genre: Bisexual Emma Perkins, Cute, Emma tells some stories, F/M, Fluff, I don’t know what to tag, They’re just chilling in Paul’s apartment, painting nails, this is my first fic on here so yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duckinahurry/pseuds/Duckinahurry
Summary: Paul and Emma are painting each other’s nails, when Paul realizes he loves her.
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Paul loved a lot of things about Emma

**Author's Note:**

> This is for everyone in the saf discord server, I started this like a month ago and I’ve only now finished it. But yeah, enjoy!

Emma was staying the night at Paul's apartment. They had ordered a pizza earlier that evening. Paul was sitting on the sofa, Emma's legs were resting comfortably on his lap. She herself was sitting next to her boyfriend, a cushion lay on her legs on which she had placed Pauls hands. For she was painting his nails a pretty midnight blue. It certainly wasn't the most practical of positions, but it comfortable. Emma had plenty leg space, the sofa might have been small, but Emma was smaller. 

Emma had always loved painting nails, it was such a relaxing activity to her which she never really had to think about too much. Whenever she used to be stressed she'd either paint her own nails, or ask Jane if she could paint hers. That didn't last long though, Jane was quite a bit older than Emma. She was a perfectionist and was always under a lot of pressure to succeed. She never had as much time for her little sister anymore. And since Emma was so different and felt like she was living in her shadow, eventually she never dared to ask anymore. 

But Emma wasn't very relaxed at the moment, in fact, she was ranting about something that has happened at beanies, and Paul was more than happy to listen. Paul loved watching Emma talk about...anything really. He loved noticing the little things. Like how her eyes just seemed to light up whenever she was talking about something she was passionate about. How she would always give him that sarcastic look whenever she was talking about something that annoyed her, which is something she never noticed. How she would overuse certain words whenever she was on a rant about something. The little apologetic smile she would give whenever she knew she was in the wrong but didn't want to admit it. 

Paul liked a lot of things about Emma.

But as of right now, he was looking down at Emma painting his nails, or well...taking giant pauses as she kept remembering something else annoying. Swinging her hand holding the nail polish brush here and there while passionately venting about her professors. Paul really was worried about his cushion, he didn't want it to get dirty. But he didn't want to interrupt her either.

"Oh right and then fucking Becky Barnes walked in!" She looked up at Paul looking bewildered. "I mean I was already tired but then I had to act all nice to her. Ugh I really don't like her" she dramatically threw her head back, then turned her attention back to Paul's nails. Paul was smiling lovingly at her. "Since she's Tom's girlfriend I can't be mean to her, he'd kill me. Oh right sorry his friend who is a girl. It's like, dude just say girlfriend we all know!" 

Paul inwardly cringed, remembering the first time he had met Tim.

"Don't you think the reason you're being so hard on Becky is partly because she's Toms girl that is a friend" Paul suggested, but he quickly caught his mistake after Emma gave him a strange look. "Uhhh I meant friend who is a girl" 

Emma chuckled lightly and returned her gaze to Paul's nails which were halfway done. "Maybe" she muttered sadly after a deep sigh. Paul wanted to put his arm around her but was unable to do so. So instead he said "hey, it's gonna be okay, okay?". Emma looked up at him. "It's okay to feel conflicted, and it is a complicated situation. I know you don't like Becky Barnes, but it's not like she's part of the family right?" 

"Yet" 

Paul shrugged. To be honest he didn't know what to say to that, and he felt kind of useless in the moment. But those insecurities quickly fade away as Emma put her head against his shoulder and mumbled a thanks. 

"So you had to act nice to Becky Barnes but you were tired, what happened next?" Paul asked after them sharing a few seconds of a rather comfortable silence. Emma smiled and blew on Pauls left hand before starting on the other one and continuing with her story. "Well" she said "I never cared enough to tell Becky where I worked, and Tom never asked. So Becky was all surprised, then she felt the sudden need to tell why she was here at beanies, and how she never would've guessed that I'd be working here." 

"Which by the way" Emma turned to Paul and shrugged "might be a backhanded complement I dunno, like what's that supposed to mean right?" She laughed. Paul chuckled lightly. "It is kinda strange, however, I know Becky Barnes, she's a real nice person. I don't think she meant it that way" he speculated. In response Emma rolled her eyes dramatically "she is too nice. Always kind to everyone, where does she get the energy? And she's so...good. I don't like people who are way too good. It's like, if your parents never warned you that you'd be on the naughty list, why are you talking to me" 

Paul laughed and told Emma about this annoying Greenpeace girl he would usually come across on his way to work. Emma then went on to talk about knowing Becky in high school. Becky was two years older than Emma, she was a cheerleader and a very positive and kind person that everyone loved. So naturally Emma hated her.

"I didn't care about what she was doing there, but you know I listened anyway. All was good and well, until Nora came of course. She was annoyed at me for talking to Becky for so long. Dude, I didn't want to! I had to! Get mad at Becky Barnes not me. Although I wouldn't want her to be mad at her because she would just feel so bad, and I'd have to comfort her and stand up for her. I'd have to tell them that it was my fault, not Beckys. But Nora never gets mad at customers, even if they're complete assholes." She continued, after she noticed she had gotten severely sidetracked. Paul felt nostalgic remembering the first time he went to beanies, seeing Emma being rude to the customers. "The worst part was that Zoey joined in! I actually felt bad for Becky, because I knew that she was feeling guilty. Anyway, I was like this close to flipping Zoey off"

Emma held up her hand, putting her thumb and index finger incredibly close together. Paul squinted to make sure that her fingers weren't touching. But before he could make anything out, Emma had gone back to work. "As I had predicted, Becky started apologizing so ya know I had to tell her that I was okay, and that it wasn't her fault, which it wasn't. Oh wait You're done" 

Emma cleaned up the nail polish and thereafter carefully put the cushion away. Paul looked at his pretty nails. "You like it?" Emma was smiling widely. Paul nodded happily and kissed her, careful not to ruin the yet-to-dry nail polish. Emma pulled herself of off Pauls lap, stretching as she stood up. "Wanna switch?" She asked him. Paul hummed in response. "But we have to wait a few minutes before I can paint yours, mine still need to dry. Hey, wouldn't this be a great time for you to do the dishes?"

Emma laughed. Earlier this evening when they had been eating the aforementioned pizza, Emma had gotten the ingenious idea to eat pizza with a fork. Just so her fingers wouldn't get greasy and so she wouldn't have to wash them. Which Paul thought was ridiculous because they'd still have to brush their teeth, they'd be in the bathroom anyway. "Who washes their hands directly after eating pizza? I'll do that before I'll go to bed or something. No I won't...I just don't want greasy fingers because then you can't paint my nails" Emma had countered. Paul had given her a skeptical look "Emma, do you not wash your hands after you eat with your hands?" 

Emma had given a mirthless chuckle "are you supposed to wash your hands before or after your meal? Or both? Who can keep up." 

Eventually Paul had caved and let Emma eat with the fork. She had done one of her apologetic "I know I'm being ridiculous" smiles that Paul loved. But of course eating pizza with a fork wasn't practical at all, so at last Emma gave up and started eating with her hands. The fork had been abandoned just like Paul's silent prediction. And when they had finished their meal, they had joked about having to do the dishes....existing out of one fork which was barely used. 

"Fine, I will wash the fork" Emma said solemnly, pressing her lips into a thin line. She raised one eyebrow, and stared Paul right in the eyes, as she shuffled over to the sink where they had put the lonely fork. She dramatically turned on the tap, washed the fork for like two whole seconds, dried it of and put it with the other forks. All of that without breaking eye contact. 

Emma then walked back over to the sofa and snuggled into him, a soft smile escaping her lips. "Now it is like it never happened" 

"Let's switch" Paul suggested. Emma nodded. Paul, sitting next to Emma still, rested his legs over her lap in similar fashion. They struggled a bit, since Paul's legs were quite clearly way longer than Emma's, but eventually they found a position that worked. Emma usually painted her nails either black, or in the colors of the bisexual pride flag. Today Emma had chosen to have Paul paint her thumb and index finger pink, middle finger purple, and her two remaining fingers blue. Emma soon continued on with her story, having a hard time not to move her hands too much. 

"The customers started complaining, especially this one rude guy who was in a hurry. Becky left" Emma put on a childish, mocking voice "and I attended to the other customers. What a nice day, all it took was was a headache and an angry boss" 

Paul chuckled and smiled at Emma.

"hey look out, don't let it spill!" Emma pulled a face. She then started explaining about the upcoming exams. Apparently her biology professor is really good at teaching, but horrible at preparing exams. It's either super easy because he really just doesn't give a shit and wanted to pass his students, or it's so hard because he makes it very chaotic and random. She started telling a story about that one time she had brought him groceries, and how since then she had been his favorite student. 

Paul had momentarily stopped painting Emma's nails, just to look at her with a loving smile. He was just silently watching her as she attempted to blow a few loose hairs out of her face. Paul tried to pay attention, he really did. But how could he when he was so distracted by...Emma. He got the gist of it though; it was a weird request, the house was huge which surprised her, it was a strange experience but it had felt good to have helped someone out. But any of the details had gotten lost. 

Paul loved a lot of things about Emma.

Paul loved Emma.


End file.
